More Water Releases Planned At Oroville Dam

The Department of Water Resources plans to open the gates to the main spillway at Lake Oroville on Friday.

For the last two weeks, crews and cranes have been removing sediment that washed from the damaged spillway into the channel below.

Lauren Bisnett with DWR says other crews have been working to prevent further erosion at the site of the damage.

"Rock-bolting to the spillway slabs and that includes anchoring them and filling them with grout," says Bisnett. "We've also been applying shotcrete which adheres to soil and the rocks and the material that is there to prevent further erosion. In addition, we've been doing some crack sealing and installing repairs.

So far, more than a million cubic yards of sediment has been removed.

DWR plans to release between 40,000 and 50,000 cubic feet per second down the main chute on Friday.

The Hyatt Powerplant has been discharging about 13,000 cfs through the 5 operational turbine generators. One generator is not working due to routine maintenance.

Inflows have fluctuated between 14,000 and 20,000 cfs. Lake Oroville is currently at 861.5 feet elevation.

The DWR says it will release more water when the lake's elevation reaches 865 feet.